Platform, Brand and You

What does it take to reach your audience and promote your writing?  Your Platform, your Branding, and your Website


Your Platform and your brand, presented via your website, tell your readers who you are and what you are about. These three, closely aligned will present a consistent message. Readers will return often to ask; “What do they have for me today?” “What more can I do to build my writing business?”

What is Platform?
Your Platform is useful if you are a blogger writing essays, articles, or books. Our success requires visibility, thus we must communicate with our readers. Work to make your message clear and valuable, fostering trust. As for me, I want people to know where I am, what I offer in the way of writing craft, and the pieces I’m working on. How do they connect with me? My Website.

OK, so what is my Brand?
You Are! You are your brand. We build brands through words, images and actions—your actions. Your brand is your promise, so deliver. Be consistent. Know who you are writing for and write to resonate with them. Make sure you send the same message through your words, images and actions. You are establishing an ongoing relationship.

Your writing is your business. Agents represent brands, publishers work with brands, readers buy brands, and companies hire brands. Develop your brand—it’s a strategic business practice.  Newbie’s: it’s not too early to start developing your brand. Get started; people are watching.

How do I get my message out to my readership?

  • Always be authentic, be personal and professional.
  • Provide valuable information; you will build authority in your niche, through communication.
  • Announce your website and purpose on social media sites.
  • When you post to your site, do the same on your social media pages and provide a link to your website.
  • Build an email list by offering subscriptions on your website and send out newsletters.
  • Invite Guests who will contribute to your message by sending you articles to post.
  • Provide added value resources.
  • Take advantage of speaking engagements.
  • Offer on-line courses, webinars and podcasts.

Add value - it’s the best path to grow your readership and promote your work.
 Grow Content = Successful Marketing
 
Deborah Lyn Stanley is an author of Creative Non-Fiction. She writes articles, essays and stories. She is passionate about caring for the mentally impaired through creative arts.

Visit her web-blog: https://deborahlynwriter.com/
Facebook at: Deborah Lyn Stanley, Writer


4 comments:

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

Deborah, do you know a way we can get personal notifications of posts on this blog. It’s so full of good information!

Karen Cioffi said...

Deborah, great information for author. It's important to know what an author platform is and what branding is. Thanks for sharing!

Karen Cioffi said...

Carolyn, as far as I know, there isn't a way to get notification through Facebook Groups. I wish there was.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

Thank you, Deborah. Too many authors don’t understand That it’s lots more than matching a book fair costume’s color to their book cover’s color. 😄

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